The present invention is related to stretchable athletic pants and, more particularly to stretchable athletic pants having an overlapping bonded seam.
Stretchable athletic pants of various configurations have become popular because they provide durability, minimize chafing, and form-fitting comfort that minimizes drag and/or allows for easy layering of clothing. These stretchable athletic pants are often designed to be worn as a xe2x80x9cbasexe2x80x9d layer directly adjacent to the skin of the wearer. Stretchable athletic pants often comprise one or more panels of stretchable material that are connected by one or more seams to form the garment.
Cycling pants, for example, typically provide durability, cushioning between a bicycle seat and a wearer, and minimize chafing of the body of the wearer. Cycling pants generally have a multiple panel construction, elastic ribbing around the leg and waist openings, and additional padding disposed in the crotch and buttocks regions of the cyclist (e.g., a chamois). The cycling pants are typically made from a plurality of stretchable fabric panels that are connected by seams.
The seams connecting one or more panels of stretchable athletic pants can irritate a wearer, such as by chafing or applying pressure to the wearer along a seam. In stretchable athletic pants where the seams come into direct contact with the skin of a wearer, for example, the irritation can be quite annoying where an athlete""s repetitive movement moves the skin of the wearer relative to the seam of the stretchable athletic pants. Prior attempts to minimize this irritation include attempts to locate the seams in locations of the garments that are less likely to provide irritation to the wearer. Cycling pants, for example, typically comprise multiple panels of stretchable material connected at multiple seams to form the pants. Prior attempts to minimize irritation caused by the seams include attempts to locate the seams in locations of the cycling pants that would not interfere with pedaling motions of the wearer to provide less irritation to the wearer.
The present invention, however, provides stretchable athletic pants comprising one or more panels connected by at least one overlapping bonded seam formed at overlapping edges of the panel(s). In one embodiment, for example, the overlapping bonded seam provides a substantially flat seam that decreases the potential for irritating a wearer.
The stretchable athletic pants, for example, may comprise shorts, pants, tights, briefs, bibs or the like. In one particular embodiment, for example, a pair of cycling pants of the present invention comprises a plurality of panels connected by at least one overlapping bonded seam formed along overlapping edges of one or more panels.
The overlapping bonded seams of stretchable athletic pants of the present invention may comprise straight or curved seams. In one embodiment, for example, the overlapping bonded seam comprises a substantially flat seam when the stretchable athletic garment is formed. Where the overlapping bonded seam comprises a curved seam, for example, the curved seam may further comprise a minimum radius of curvature to provide a substantially flat seam when the stretchable athletic pants are formed.